Time for installment number 3! Lots of things will be different this year with new farms. I was gonna wait a bit to start this one but I’ve actually been pretty busy working on stuff. Right now my main focus is helping the deer. Winter has come with a vengeance. Temps are supposed to hit -50 windchill tomorrow. Plus we have 12-14” of snow on the ground. I’ve been putting out a lot of alfalfa top dressed with corn. Still have more spots to go. I’ve pulled the majority of my cameras, except for the ones I’m putting at the feed stations.

On my home farm, where I killed Trident this past season, the snowdrifts were too deep to get back to where I wanted to put the feed. I went beast mode. Strapped an alfalfa bale to a pack frame and carried a bag of corn in my arms, along with cameras.

Hopefully soon I will now what kind of bucks are still around. So far the one I am most excited about is 2020. He was a superstar 2 year old last year with 15 points. I have pics of him on 01/09 so he should be alive and well. I’m betting he will be a scary big 3 year old this year.

So I'm debating something. 2020 is a deer I really really want to make it a couple more years. I honestly feel like he has 200" potential. Being that I am adding new farms this year, I am considering not hunting the west 60 acres of the home farm. This 60 is one my best spots traditionally. It's where Mr Clean lived, where I killed Doublewide in 2017, and where I killed Trident in 2018. 2020 lives on this 60 acres pretty consistently. I think I may plant a couple strategic plots, and maybe even run a feeder, and not hunt this piece at all in 2019, in hopes that 2020 makes it to...2020. I predict he will put on 40+ inches from 2-3 years old. he just looks special to me.

I went for a drive last night before dark to see what the deer were doing. I drove past the new farm where I killed my Muzzleloader buck last year, and saw a deer standing in the barnyard. Turns out it was a huge 8 point. He eventually went towards my feed station.